Zero Dark
by Vanessa S. Quest
Summary: Palm Key, while Race is away after dropping off Hadji and Jessie at Space Camp, Jonny and Dr. Quest are left to hold the fort during a Tropical Storm. Really, what could go wrong? Apparently, everything. Trigger Warnings apply.


0-Dark by Vanessa S. Quest

11:45 PM EST, Florida Keys, September 14th… … …

The sky was flashing shades of electric blue, white, and dark navy as a thunderstorm raged just off the coast.

The Compound was battened down for the tropical storm, but honestly even though the weather was rough, the view was amazing.

Dr. Quest looked out over the lab to view the oceanic light show. Reinforced glass that could withstand Cat 5 gusts made it the safest place for viewing. Jonny, of course, had snuck out of his room to watch even though it was well past his bedtime. He couldn't fault a twelve year old for being curious, though, so he'd let it slide after one 'severe' lecture about the importance of rest on the body _and_ being accounted for during a natural disaster.

In a way, it was nice that the boy opted to head to his lab, and by proxy— him, during his secret viewing.

He wasn't sure if that was a subconscious desire or to share a memory, but as the boys approached adolescence, he'd take what he got.

"Jonathon Benton Quest, what are you doing up at this hour?" He said to the boy under the lab bench a row over from where he was burning the midnight oil.

Jonny shrugged, "Aw, c'mon dad! If I was really hiding, you wouldn't have known I was in here. B'sides, _you're_ still up." He countered.

"Last I checked, I'm not a growing adolescent." Benton reminded him authoritatively.

"Yeah, well I read a study about cortisol production and insufficient sleep relating to weight gain. Are you trying to get fat and old?" Jonny said guilelessly.

His eyebrow twitched. Why that _little_ … "Young man, what _exactly_ are you insinuating?"

Jonny crawled out and approached his dad, poked his flab. "You're not taking care of _yourself_ lately."

"I'll have you _know_ , young man— I'm still the same weight as I was in grad school!"

"Yeah, and fat's _lighter_ than muscle," he prodded.

"Don't try to change the subject, and that happens to be an incredibly rude one to change it to! You're up well past lights out."

"Fine then, I'll just go watch it somewhere _else_ … You never want to listen to me…" he mumbled the last half to himself.

"No, you'll go to _bed._ "

"Oh don't be a hypocrite, dad. You can't care about health and NOT care about health. I'm going."

Jonny turned to look out the window in time to see an arc of lightning flash impossibly bright yellow then white, the lab went pitch black.

"Damn, the transformer blew. Wait there, the backup generator should kick on in 15 seconds." Benton sighed.

Jonny rubbed at his eyes painfully, took hold of the bench to steady himself as his eyes adjusted.

Blue jewel tones lit up the lab as additional lightning strikes hit closer and closer. "Jonny, are you alright?"

"Yeah… I just had bad timing. That was one heckuva flash."

The sound of trees crashing caused Benton to scan the outside. "I bet your brother is awfully jealous that he's missing this…" He offered.

Jonny blinked some more as his sight came back slowly. "Are you kidding me? There's no way he'd trade _Space Camp_ for a measly tropical storm lightning party."

"Then are you still upset that you couldn't go?"

Jonny blew out a frustrated sigh, "No, whatever… _space_ is _limited_ , apparently." He growled in annoyance. "But they both got in _just fine_." He whined, referring to how both Jessie and Hadji's applications were picked up.

Benton was concerned that the generator still hadn't kicked in yet.

"Well, they did only have 100 slots, Jonny…"

"Yeah, yeah… and if I _really_ wanted to go _that_ bad, I should'uh sent my application in super early like _they_ did; even though I couldn't when I was working on that robotics project." He seethed, quoting his dad's previous lecture.

"Hadji managed." Benton wondered if that was a low blow, Hadji had better time management skills and was older than Jonny by two years.

Jonny scowled, "Yeah, only cuz he wasn't up until _midnight_ fixing the bugs in the mechanisms or beta-testing!" He pushed off the bench, apparently unwilling to wait on the lights any longer himself.

Benton was quietly impressed by Jonny's work ethic matching his own, the boy rarely shared those insights, though he was disappointed by the connotation that he took it upon himself to pick up his team's slack.

"At least we won our division… that probably helped them get into 2 of those slots." He added bitterly.

"Don't be a sour grape, son."

"I'm going to bed." He brooded, he exited the lab to the dark hallway. Jonny let out a muffled expletive as a crashing sound filled the empty air.

"Are you alright?" He asked, walking toward the noise, "I told you to wait for the—" Benton froze as the lights kicked on.

The boy was being held by the mouth, half a foot in the air by a goon pressing a gun to his side.

"…Jonny, I's going to be okay," He said in a stoic calmness, gesturing his own hands in a position of submissiveness.

Behind the one thug holding his boy were two more brutes. Jonny's eyes were watering; Benton didn't like the look of that at all. He blinked twice to signal he understood.

"What brings you gentlemen here at this hour, in this storm?" Benton said coolly, Jonny's eyes were starting to gloss over, the realization that the cretin was smothering his boy hit him. As the boy's body went limp, the hand came off his mouth.

"Good decision to stay calm. You two are coming with us."

Benton bit his tongue, he knew he was hardly in any position to negotiate those terms as Jonny's limp form was shoved back to one of the hoodlums behind the first, said hoodlum made fast work zip-tying his wrists and gagging the unconscious boy.

"Turn around, doctor." The man with the gun suggested pointedly. Then, his hands too were zip-tied, only his were fastened behind his back. He turned around to see one of the men removing Jonny's socks and shoes before roughly tossing him over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

Suddenly, Benton wished fervently that Jonny had _also_ been away at Space Camp, Race had flown the other out only for the storm to delay his return until late in the day tomorrow, at earliest.

"Young Mr. Quest will go on ahead first, and then you and I will make our way over."

Dr. Quest clenched his jaw. This was not good.

-0 Dark JQ-

Jonny blinked up at the sight of bright flood-lights. The stinging rain pelted his exposed arms and face.

He looked around, confused, he remembered he'd been in the lab… as his eyes regained focus he remembered the galoot who'd thrown him into a hallway table like a ragdoll. His side huty from where he'd connected with the corner.

He muffled out a barely decipherable, "Dad!" looking around, he couldn't see him.

A rough hand grabbed a fistful of his blond hair.

"Shut it or you'll make your daddy cry." Came the threat. Jonny turned to get out from his grip defiantly. He gave a nod to signal he understood. The man licked his lips then glanced toward the edge of the boat.

Jonny didn't like that look, not at all.

"It really is past your bedtime." The blow to his mouth was hard, fast, and worse- unexpected.

His gag absorbed the blood as his head swum. As his eyes blinked closed he could feel the chop of water as they motored out away from his home.

-0 Dark JQ-

Benton was silent as he observed the motions, the orders, every action of these men who had his boy. He had to buy time, and yet, there was no time like the present to see what he'd gotten himself into, he thought as he was loaded on the open-faced motorboat.

"So what do I owe the pleasure to?" He asked almost cordially.

The thug with the gun who'd taken charge said in a low voice, "You boys aught really learn to shut up unless you're _asked_ something." He let out a dangerous chuckle, "I bet you'll be a quicker study that your brat, though."

Benton's eyes went wide, he did _not_ like that implication. He leaned his head upward toward the rain, they were headed North by North East. A boat like this wouldn't have a far range, especially so in a storm.

He lowered his head toward the horizon, he could see the other boat ahead that housed Jonny and two goons. There was nothing to like about _that_ arrangement. The smallest was surrounded by two gorillas while he was one on one with this brute.

After about thirty minutes, they pulled onto an empty beach.

With his azure eyes keenly focused ahead, he watched Jonny get frog-marched to a vehicle. At least he was awake, he wanted to think that, but then the man's earlier threat came to mind. He clenched his fists in a fury.

The vehicle started up and pulled away to Benton's horror. "Where are you taking him!" he demanded.

The man gave him a pitiable look, the sucker punch was nothing compared to the tightness he felt in his chest. "Shut your trap, you'll see him soon enough."

Dr. Quest stabilized his weight under the blow to keep solidly footed.

"But _now_ , you have a debt for him to pay up."

"He's a child!" Benton hissed, angry at himself, he _had_ to control his temper. He had to. This was not an _option_.

The man pushed both boats into the waves, happy to let the storm take them. "Our ride," he shirked his shoulder to another truck. Grinding his teeth, Benton walked ahead toward the vehicle. The man pulled out a blindfold suggestively. "You've seen enough as is."

Benton signed in petty annoyance, he allowed himself the indignity of being blindfolded, and then, he was eased into the back seat and buckled in.

The drive lasted for three hours, most of it on highways.

He prayed Jonny was alright. The blindfold was pulled off after the truck finally pulled up to a complete stop next to a familiar vehicle. He let out a shaky breath.

He saw Jonny just up ahead, he was being shoved forward, _hard_ , the lanky pre-teen body clumsily trying to regain his footing at each shove.

Jonny kept turning his head back to look at his dad, only to then get shoved forward, on about the umpteenth such shove, he landed hard on his knee. A rough hand hoisted him up and shoved him even harder forward.

Benton's blood was _boiling_ at the display.

"Right, here's as good as any." The man doing the shoving said, "Boss, what's your tally?"

"Three, and you?"

"I have him at two, so five in total." Jonny turned to look at the men talking, he sensed the meaning. His eyes went wide as the man reached for his face. Reflexively, he pulled back, with an unrelenting speed, a strike to his cheek put the kibosh to that effort to dodge. The gag was pulled loose.

"Make that _six_."

The boss grabbed Benton's arm roughly. "Now don't go getting any ideas, genius."

Benton let out a slow breath, bracing himself.

Apparently he'd been woefully unprepared, the first blow to Jonny had all but crumpled him.

His boy's arms were pulled backward as more fists flew, on the sixth hard bow, the boy's feet went out from under him, obviously punch drunk.

Benton pulled from his captor and was to Jonny as he made his slow descent to earth.

"Seven, sir?"

The man nodded, not that Benton saw it.

The thug kicked Jonny hard from behind, he crashed face-first on the sidewalk, his hands barely caught him in time from taking it to the jaw. The same goon grabbed the mop of blond hair and yanked him back upright.

"…Stop…" Benton pleaded.

"Help him walk." The goon shoved Jonny at his dad.

Benton nodded, he let his son find his center while pressed into his chest, then slowly turned his back to the youth, groping his hands to find his son's. Walking trunk to tail, they made the silent procession into the corporate looking building, one goon up front, two behind, including one with a drawn gun.

Benton kept his pace slow enough for Jonny to navigate, he could feel him teetering; he moved two fingers to his son's wrist as a conscious connection as if to say they'd get _through_ this, somehow.

"Your office," the boss goon said, pointed to a doorway to the left.

Benton glared then veered toward the opening.

Suddenly, he was falling forward, shoved from behind much the way he'd witnessed these cretins do to his boy at the building entryway. He tried, but failed, to keep a hold of Jonny as he fell into the room.

A thick plexi-glass door slid between them as he scrambled to turn over and see him.

Jonny had been yanked back hard with a hooked arm at his shoulder.

"Hey! Lemme go you galoot!" Jonny struggled, in vane and to Benton's horror, as the man wrapped his one arm around Jonny's waist and the other at his jaw.

"Stop it!" Jonny kicked, struggled- anything he could think to get out of the tightening grip.

"So, now that I have your attention, let's go over the ground rules shall we?" The boss said, he gave his counterpart holding Jonny a nod.

Jonny's efforts were ignored as he was raised a foot in the air. Benton watched the boy wince as the man squeezed him even tighter.

"In your office is some work, nothing Herculean though you may find it ethically challenging. That's where _your son_ comes in. You may want to get over those challenges quickly, for _his_ sake."

"D-ad… don't…" He cringed. Jonny was slammed into the wall then returned to full view of the plexi-glass doorway.

"As I was saying…" The boss smiled to his subordinate, "Talking out of turn will earn you one instant and one stored punishment. By my count you now have another _four_."

Benton in silent realization could see the boy's legs slowing down- toeing for the ground, that bastard was squeezing the air out of him again.

"Once the work is done, you'll both be let go in the current state you finish in."

Both Quests thought simultaneously to themselves, 'No we won't.'

"If you work well, you'll see your boy. If you _don't_ work well, you'll _hear_ your boy." He yanked Jonny's jaw upward, highlighting the boy's pained look. "Any questions?"

"Several, but for brevity- what work, and will you untie us," Came his stoic response.

"As I said, it's in your office, and really- as a genius, you can figure out how to _untie yourself_."

"And my boy?"

The boss laughed, "What? Is he not bright enough to do it, either?"

Benton glared, enraged, "How long are you planning to hold us for? Rough time line."

"That's up to you, a week, two, a month _tops_." He ruffled Jonny's hair in faked affection, "But as rambunctious and stupid as this one is, you might want to work _fast_."

Jonny clenched his teeth, his body was shaking in a mix of fury and fear.

"Dad, I'll be fine! Don't listen to this creep—" The pistol-butt flew immediately from the silent goon who'd been observing this whole time. The blow knocked him out cold, landing just behind his ear.

" _JONNY_!"

" _Right_ back up to six, I told you he's stupid." The boss said, smiled at the man holstering his pistol. "Any _more_ questions?"

"…None." Benton fumed.

"Take young Mr. Quest to his private suite, then."

He'd been right, Benton didn't need any assistance untying him, he'd practically pulled his hands free in rage at how they'd assaulted his son. No, he _had_ to regain control. Jonny's life depended on it.

Hands loosened, he slid each out from the binds and rubbed his wrists gingerly. He approach the file. This was not good. They wanted him to produce a synthetic nerve-agent, to upscale it for production off the recipe they already _had_. His eyes shot to the door as he heard Jonny howl in pain.

"Damn it!"

-0 Dark JQ-

Jonny's head lolled, the room was spinning.

He was lying on his back watching the room cycle listlessly, vaguely aware of the creep with a pair of pliers. The scared look in his dad's face had been worse than the awful things the big lug had said about him.

What did some dumb bad guy know, anyway! He squinted his eyes shut and rolled to his side.

He'd show that jerk _just_ how good he was at escaping.

Not that he wanted to, but he had to sit up. Lying down wouldn't get the job done- not the one _he_ needed to do. "So what're you gonna _do_ , anyway?" He said defiantly to the full-fledged gorilla in front of him.

The guy was licking his lips again, smiling at him. It made Jonny's skin crawl. "Boss already went over the rules, you owe _eight_ now."

"Yeah? Keep my tab open." Jonny said with bravado.

The smile stretched onward, " _Ten_ now, I've been waiting! Fingers or toes? User's choice."

Jonny looked at him, suddenly horrified by the meaning, "For what?"

The man clamored over the boy, dwarfing him, "Fingers. Or. Toes."

"T-toes." Jonny answered, he'd _need_ his hands, whatever he was up to—

"Fingers it is!" He smiled carnally, he pinned Jonny under the weight of his knee as he used the pliers to rip off each fingernail. He started on the left hand and worked from pinky to thumb.

Jonny's screams echoed through the floor. It _hurt_. It hurt so much more than the punches or kicks had.

Tears stung the corners of his eyes. He _had_ to calm down, he just had to! He knew they were doing this to torture his dad even more than him.

By the time he'd avulsed all his nails, Jonny had gone quiet, his fingertips bloodied.

In a thought exercise, he conjured a mental fortress, he pretended Race was coaching him on how to guard his emotions, that he could secure them inside, far away from these madmen, lock up his pain inside where they couldn't reach it.

It was _his_ body, _his_ mind… _his_ domain. He could control what went in and out of _his_ fortress. The result was near perfect, he thought. He'd stopped screaming before he'd finished his right hand. Breathing shallowly, Jonny's eyes raked over the room, it wasn't a stinking office, it was a stone fortress, full of turrets and robotic defenses, and _lasers_ …

He curled to his side, fast asleep.

His own ministrations done, the goon gathered up the fingernails and licked the blood off the pliers. He _loved_ working with kids, breaking them. Most people were too uncomfortable around him, but his boss got him.

Smiling, he decided he'd give these to the boy's dad at breakfast.

-0 Dark JQ-

Benton rubbed his eyes in exhaustion.

A plan. He needed a plan. He had to stall these sons of bitches, but however he did that _had_ to make them think he was doing as they wanted so they'd leave Jonny _alone_.

He could see through a basement window that the sun was up, had it really been only a few hours? He saw someone at the door.

Cautiously, he approached.

"Dr. Quest, good morning!" The loon was smiling like a jackal.

Benton did not share his good mood, "Good morning, _indeed_." he bit down the sarcasm, he _had_ to reel this in, for Jonny's sake.

"What would you like for breakfast?"

Benton felt calloused, "My son to be _with_ me." He all but bristled, this was the opposite of how he needed to be. If only Race were here, that man could get through his thick head better than anyone alive.

He shut his eyes at that thought, he'd rather not have any of his family _here_ , actually.

"I can arrange that, if you're behaving."

"I've read the files. I can do it, but you abducted a world renowned engineer- and you want a rinky-dink bioreactor? Have you _no_ vision?"

"Rinky-dink or not, that's the _job_." He scowled, "Eggs, then?"

"Bring me my _son._ "

The man laughed, "So up-tight, maybe you should take a _nap_."

Benton glared. He absolutely _should_ sleep, but he didn't dare to.

Fifteen minutes later, the creeping good was back with a covered tray.

Benton took the tray inside the door, he was furious. "Where's my _boy_?"

"Oh look at the meal _first_ , you ingrate!" He rolled his eyes, "I'm a _man_ of _my word_."

The danger there made Benton's skin crawl. He opened the lid, fresh scrambled eggs, toast, coffee, and some pineapple. As for kidnappings, the menu was gourmand.

His eyes trailed back up to the goon.

"Oh, I forgot—" he handed Benton the neatly rolled up silverware and napkin through the slot in the door. "Eat every last bite, food waste is atrocious."

"Atrocious…?" he asked incredulously, he unrolled the napkin, "Where is my son?!"

The man's laugh rolled over the room, "Oh, he's already in the room with you. Well, _part_ of him." He smiled giddily.

Benton glared, he looked over the tray then the napkin. His pupils shrank, ten perfectly pink, well-shaped nails fell from the fold. He stood abruptly, clasping a hand over his mouth, sickened.

"Hey, eat it all or I'll bring you his toenails _next_."

Benton caught the serious look in his eyes, in pallor, he shoveled down the food. He couldn't give them any excuse, not one.

Stomach churning, he bussed his tray, then drafted a list of components.

-0 Dark JQ-

Jonny blinked his eyes open in the prison cell, or as they'd taken to calling it, his _suite_.

Tiredness weighed him down, his arms were stiff, he needed to get out of these zipties.

Making himself sit up, he scanned the room in a daze. It was empty. That was good at least, he closed his eyes. Race had taught him how to get out of most knots, handcuffs, and even zipties… he just had to remember the trick to it. Lock your fingers then flex your wrists out, right?

After two tries, he was free.

He smiled to himself- forced himself to stand. He felt woozy, he whispered to himself, "C'mon, pull it together… dad needs you…"

The decision to explore the room came naturally.

His fingers ached, which he pushed deeper into _his_ room, same with the ache in his head and chest. The only sensation that refused to abide his command was his dire need to take a leak. "Oh _great_ , and where _exactly_ am I supposed to do _that_?" He asked himself, annoyed at his body's needs.

His head tilted, there was a sink… he investigated it, the tap turned on and off, it drained…

"…Well, I guess it beats pissing in a corner." He told himself, he unzipped and relieved himself in the basin then flushed away the red with water. He knew what peeing red meant. At least that nagging pain was petering out now too.

He washed his hands and rezipped. Moving about slowly, he saw some boxes of 'junk,' he glanced around casually. He didn't see any cameras, were they just confident he'd be beat into submission?

Could they really have underestimated _him_ that much? "Well, I'll take it if you leave it… suckers." He said to himself as he broke into the box.

Jonny'd like to imagine he didn't flinch or wince or grimace as he tried to open the backs of vacuums, old CPUs, or wall clocks, but his tear-rimmed cheeks kept him from that delusion. What he _didn't_ need to imagine was that he had enough spare parts to make a transmitter.

He squirreled away the parts.

If they were going to treat him like a dumb, hapless kid, he'd have the last laugh.

Jonny put down the box. He needed sleep, recharge his own battery and then get to work.

Step one, make a working radio, step two, break outta this popsicle joint, step three, kick their butts.

On that pleasant thought, Jonny fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

-0 Dark JQ-

Jonny awoke with a start, his mouth and face felt sticky and gummy.

He coughed as he forced himself to sit upright. Swooning a little, he steadied himself.

More fruit was shoved into his mouth; he closed his teeth firmly against the intrusion as he regained focus. "…Huh?" He blinked in disbelief. "Dad? What're you doing here?"

"Sh… eat." Benton pressed more fruit at his son who took to chewing it. Benton put a cup of water to his lips. Drinking, his eyes locked with his father's.

He didn't know how this was happening. He scanned the room, they weren't alone.

"What happened… why're you allowed in here?"

" _Eat_." Benton ordered sternly. He leaned closer, "They couldn't wake you up, and I gave them a part list."

Jonny shifted uncomfortably, "You can't help them, dad! You _can't_!"

"Jonathon, this is not up for debate." He pet his son's face, examining the pallor from just one night ago.

"What time is it?"

"Seven. Race should _know_ by now. We have to hold on."

Jonny curled close to Benton, "…I can make a radio, I really think I can…" he whispered into his dad's neck.

"Don't be scared, Jonny. I'm cooperating. They let me check on you, it's going to be fine." He said for the sake of their captors. The message Jonny received, loud and clear, was do it _quick_.

"Well then, as you can see, he's fine now. So back to work, yes?"

"Yes." Dr. Quest stood, "Jonny, _rest_."

Jonny looked down at his hands, they had band aids over them. He shook his head slowly, he didn't understand. Was he really out for that long? He couldn't waste any more time.

-0 Dark JQ-

Benton returned to the lab space. He felt bone tired.

He'd been in a near fit when they'd told him- after he'd given them a component list- that his boy wasn't waking up.

All he could think was that he had a brain bleed from being pistol whipped, that he was in a coma, that he _wouldn't_ wake up… He demanded they let him see him, with a fury he rarely tamped into.

He was sure there'd be ramifications, but even _they_ had to know- if Jonny died, he'd kill them. Actually _kill_ them. What else would he be left with, if he didn't? Of course there was Hadji, but the rage of what they'd done to his petite son… on the _cusp_ of adolescence… He rubbed his forehead.

Jonny needed medical care, urgently.

It was apparent they were fine with him being immobilized, but to the point of not giving him food or drink- letting him _lie_ there, unresponsive, _for hours_?!

He didn't understand the bad-cop good-cop ruse. Did they really think he was gullible enough to believe they weren't tickled pink by his medically facilitated docility?

And that _one_ fellow- the one hovering around Jonny the most… the one who served his _nails_ to him… If Benton got a hold of a gun, so help him, he'd shoot the son of a bitch, surrendered or no.

He kept drawing schematics, evaluating, then re-drawing.

Their process was highly impure. Half of their output was useless to them, obviously the last poor sod had similar conflicts about giving them usable product.

He prayed and prayed Jonny really _could_ make a radio, and more importantly, wouldn't get caught.

-0 Dark JQ-

Leaning against a wall, Jonny felt dizzy. The fruit had helped, he wasn't sure how his dad knew his so well.

It was eerie.

Right now, though, he needed water. He was so thirsty, he didn't think he'd _ever_ been so thirsty in his life, even that time he got caught in the desert for _days_ wasn't as bad as _this_.

He dragged himself to the sink and drank straight from the tap. After sucking down about a liter, he felt a bit better, more alert, that was for sure!

He looked around the room, and finding it empty, went back to _his_ project. After tinkering for another hour, he had it. A Morse Code transmitter.

Now he just had to amplify the signal enough to make it worth a lick of salt. He smiled wryly, there was an old modem and a jack… that would do _JUST_ fine.

He sat in the corner, leaning away from the door toiling away, and looking near-catatonic to anyone interested to look- working on converting a calculator to work as a dial.

He'd only be able to transmit, not receive, but Race could probably track it like a phone call and he knew Morse Code, what would sound like useless static or crackles to _others_ , he'd know. He'd _know_.

Thirsty again, and in need to make water, Jonny made his way back to the sink where an alarmingly red torrent filled the basin.

He'd never seen that much blood, not without someone being shot, at least. Even when Race got stabbed that one time…

He shook his head, he felt dizzy again.

Drinking from the tap, he didn't head the door open.

Just as he got his fill, he turned around, he spotted the good who'd ripped off his fingernails.

Jonny swallowed hard, backed away from him.

He was smiling. That was a bad sign.

"W-what are you doing in here?!"

"I wanted to make sure you haven't been bored stiff." He sneered, approached.

Jonny retreated, problem was, he had nowhere to retreat _to_ , though. "Dad's been _cooperating_ …" he parroted.

"He _has_ , but he's also been taking liberties, and he doesn't have those."

"…Liberties?" Jonny's voice cracked.

"You owe _QUITE_ the tab."

Jonny shrank away.

The man pounced, Jonny was on his back, the room spinning as he felt fingers pushing into his mouth, over his tongue. Gagging, he tried to breathe, to get out from under the man with wild eyes.

For the first time he _saw_ him, truly saw the man, he was easily 6'2", at least 250 pounds, his light olive complexion, hazel green eyes, and shortly cropped dark hair, including his neatly trimmed beard etched into his mind like a polaroid film developing after a flash.

Saliva fell down Jonny's mouth and chin, slathered the man's hand thoroughly, then he'd pulled it out to Jonny's utmost relief, which quickly turned back to terror as his own shirt was pulled over his head, jammed into his mouth in their place.

He pushed onto Jonny's jaw and looked at the colored bruises painted across Jonny's torso. Reds, purples, blues, milky white… he leaned next to his ear and whispered with a heat the blond couldn't understand, "So _beautiful_ …"

Jonny's scream didn't carry as far as it had when his nails were avulsed, he struck wildly, sensing the deranged danger.

He was easily rolled onto his stomach, pushing up, struggling to get out from under the man's weight, to yell- anything to get this to stop, he felt the musty breath of the man tickle his ear.

"Keep screaming, it's so much better then…"

Jonny's eyes glazed over, body shuttering. He was in his fortress, a bemused look to him as he watched the cold rains fall outside the slatted windows. He walked around anxiously, haunted by the howling wind piercing his domain.

The sound of wild boars grunted as they wallowed in the mud and muck.

He felt revulsion at the wet, sopping sounds and their pleased little grunts. Eyes closed, he forced his fortress to mask the sound, to play a loud concerto that felt as tumultuous and uneasy as he did.

The grunts died away, the sound of crackles brought him from his reverie.

Jonny opened tired eyes, he was staring at the floor. He hurt, he didn't even know how or why- it was so different of a pain, like he'd been torn in half somehow.

Eyes cast around the room, he had to pee again.

He dragged himself toward the wall, stood up weakly and hobbled to the sink. He almost caved over, instead he braced his hand to the rear wall while his right hand aimed himself in the sink. It was pink again, that had to be a good sign, right?

He shook his head slowly, he flushed the sink with water and limped stoically to the center of the room, he rubbed his head, he felt so disoriented- maybe he _did_ have a concussion? Eyes closed, he saw his fortress, heard the static.

He blinked back awake. Right! He had to send out the distress call, he had to… he felt far away again, his center ached.

Jonny tasted his lips, they felt metallic, chafed, he smelled bile and sweat. Really gross, smelly sweat.

" _Pigs_ ," he whispered then limped to the radio.

As he plugged in to the cable, he wondered why his hands were shaking so violently.

It didn't matter, he had to get out the signal. The called the Compound and started to tap out his message.

 _SOS – KIDNAPED –_ He misspelled, he tried to focus his eyes, his head hurt. _DAD – AND – JONNY_ — _THREE – PIGS_ —

"No, that's not how you spell _men_ , idiot!" He chastised himself, repeated from the beginning.

 _SOS – KIDNAPPED – SEND – HELP – THREE – THREE – HELP – FIND – SCARED_ —

He stopped his hand. Why was he scared? He turned to look at the room, he was safe in his fortress, the pigs were quiet now… what had he ever been worried about, anyway?

Had the place always been _this_ empty? "Dad…" he whispered. He had to find his dad. He left the line connected, walked through the room in a drunken swerve.

He looked at his door, fortress gone. He looked at the hinges and lock mechanism. "How'm I gonna…" he looked around the room. He felt nauseous, he needed water.

His underwear felt gross, he felt mortified, did he piss himself?! Groaning, he went back to the sink, he'd take a drink, take a piss, and then 'freshen up.'

-0 Dark JQ-

It was 3 AM when Benton startled awake from the desk. He could swear he heard a muffled sound, it sounded like Jonny crying. Was it the stress from everything, or were they hurting him again? Hell, could he be sure it wasn't pain already inflicted? It was so faint, it felt unearthly.

"Think, Benton. _World Renowned Engineer_ , what can you use to MacGuyver open a damn _door_?"

The 'lab' was actually rather Spartan. He was meant to draw plans, perform calculations, _design_ , in essence, no actually _build_. But he _had_ drawing tools, metal protractor, and square- made of cheap _tin_ , but still.

The door was a basic latch- and a _key turn_. He eyed his compass needle and pick.

"That'll do."

He looked around the room then out the hallway, there was a guard in the hall.

"Hmm, anything I can jimmy into a weapon?" He asked himself darkly. He cocked the table leg and smiled. He hadn't bothered to check _that_ before. He pushed the lab stool under the table on the far end after unscrewing one table leg. What was the saying? Batter's up? He wished he _were_ more athletic suddenly.

Remembering his son's jibe about getting out of shape, he wondered the merits of going to the batting cages if they made it through this mess.

Benton checked the hallway again. It was empty _now_ , and Jonny was quiet, maybe the boy had just been in pain- it hardly matters, no one had the right to terrorize his son.

They spoke of _debts_ , Benton was going to call theirs in.

He looked at the time, 4:30. Now was as good of a time as _any_.

-0 Dark JQ-

Jonny looked tiredly at the mess he'd just cleaned up. More pink and red, it felt goopy and gross. He managed to rinse it out good, though. His stomach sure did hurt a lot.

Maybe he had kidney castings? He'd read about those. That stringy gook could've been that, he reasoned.

He rung them out and put them back on, this was definitely roughing it. Pulling his jeans back up, he doubled over, his stomach _really_ hurt. It _had_ to be kidney stones or castings or _whatever_ … he rubbed his eyes. It was 4 AM. He should shoot the signal again, make sure Race got it.

He half crawled, half dragged himself to the corner, he could see someone outside his room.

It made his chest constrict.

"H-hello?"

The goon looked in at him then walked off.

Jonny's face went bright red, mortified. That was the quiet old… Jonny couldn't remember ever hearing him talk. The shortest of the three goons, he was only towering over Jonny at 5'11", with about 200 pounds of meat on the bones, he had a ponytail like Hadji wore under his turban, was smooth shaven, and had dark hair, dark eyes, and fair skin.

Jonny felt nervous.

Just how long _had_ he been standing there?

His skin felt slick in sweat and goosebumps. He squeezed his eyes shut, the fortress was safe- he was in it. _He_ was safe. His defenses were impenetrable…

Jonny dialed the Compound and pounded out the distress signal again.

 _SOS – THREE – PIGS – HELP – HAVE – ME – AND – DAD – MONSTERS – RACE – HELP_ —

Jonny blinked back to his senses, a shaking, sobbing mess, his hand still frantically keying.

 _HURTS – RACE – ARE – YOU – THERE — SO – SCARED – CANT_ —

Jonny's hand dropped the transmitter, jumping at the sound of the door opening.

"-Jonny?" Benton let out a loud whisper. He saw his son flinch, drop something.

"No! No— I broke it!" Jonny's hands dug at the transmitter, Benton rushed to him.

"Jonny, come one, we have to—" he froze when the boy flinched upon contact. He looked over him, his son was terrified, and covered in circular bruises— _hickeys_.

He was almost translucently pale.

Benton's fury clicked over. "Can you stand?"

Jonny's whole body shook, he tried to pick up the transmitter which crumbled apart.

"—I d-dunno if-f it g-got th-through… I t-tried twice…"

"Can you stand UP, Jonny?"

Jonny turned toward his dad's voice, scared by the anger in his face. "I'm s-sorry! I- I didn't _m-mean_ to drop—"

"We need to get OUT of here, Jonny- can you or can you NOT stand up?" He looked around, they were wasting too much time. "Right—I'm going to pick you up."

"No! Don't!" Jonny said forcefully. Benton blinked back in shock. The 12 year old forced himself up, he almost spilled over but clutched at the box of junk he'd used to make a transmitter.

"W-we have t-to _destroy_ anything you did for those _monsters_ …" Jonny's eyes shone with wet conviction as he limped forward.

Benton's nails dug through his palms, those _goddamned monsters_ was right.

"No, we don't. _We_ need to get out of here, that's my first priority, getting you somewhere secure."

"I'm fine…" Jonny life, "But how many people WON'T BE if _we_ don't stop 'm?" He pressed forward. He swooned once they reached the door.

"Jonny!" Benton exclaimed, steadying his boy's shoulder.

Jonny smacked his father's hand away defensively, "DON'T TOUCH ME!" his body shook as he slid low, he tried to regain his air.

"I'm sorry… _I'm sorry_ ," Benton said, kneeling next to him, "I am so, so sorry, Jonny…"

Jonny glared, "I'm _fine_ … we just… gotta…" his eyes rolled under as he fell into his dad.

Benton stabilized the boy, careful of obvious injuries, but it was painfully clear to him there were substantial _obscure_ injuries. He needed medical attention. He _needed_ it _now_.

Hefting the boy up, Benton bit out a stifled swear. When had he gotten _so_ heavy? He had to make this work, though. He couldn't nix his club and it was very apparent Jonny wasn't up for walking anywhere, let _alone_ running. He had to think.

Jonny's device _might_ have worked, or it mightn't have. It _might_ have been traced, or it might have been the frantic delusions of a terrified child… no, they had to make a break for it, he couldn't be certain Race would have had enough time to get here even if he did get a distress signal.

His son felt clammy and cold in his grip.

"Hold on, we're getting out of here…"

Benton heard the hammer of a gun cock back.

"Oh, I disagree." The _boss_ said in a fury, "my, taking a late night stroll? It looks to be past young Mr. Quest's bedtime though."

He aimed accordingly, Benton turned his back toward the gun.

"You've hurt him enough you sadistic piece of shit!" He cradled his boy, if this was how he'd go out, so be it, he'd _never_ let them touch Jonny again.

The boss clucked his tongue, Benton heard scuffling, whispering. He strained his ears to catch what was being said.

"Ali… _proclivities_ … the boy."

Benton's body shook in rage. He spun to glare, "His _PROCLIVITIES_ , his _fucking_ proclivities?!"

"I _see_." The boss said, gun still drawn. "Take your boy back into your room, doctor. We'll address your grievance."

More hush whispers.

"Well, I see then. We'll have to find… a _different_ office for you. Be reasonable, Dr. Quest. If I shoot you, he gets shot next, or do you _want_ him left with Ali instead?"

"I will _end_ you…"

"Ah, but not today. My associate here will guide you to another room, drop the club or your boy will have a significant _bill._ "

Benton's hand shook, the table leg fell with a clatter.

"Rest assured, Ali will be reprimanded and this little misunderstanding between us fellows will be struck from the books."

He fumed, cradled his son, "Oh, _will_ it…?"

"I'll even be magnanimous and exchange medicine for your lock pick. I'm feeling generous."

Benton's whole body swayed in furor, as evident by Jonny's body sweeping in the air. "I need more than _medicine_ for my son."

"You'll have what you need, now please." He gestured forward with the pistol.

Jonny let out a soft moan.

"Sh…" Benton soother, his demeanor softened as he addressed his prone child. "Sh, I have you."

Jonny whispered faintly, "…Race… help us… monster…"

-0 Dark JQ-

Jonny blinked awake with his father hovering over him. As his eyes focused, he tried to clamor backward before the realization hit, along with a wave of pain from moving too fast ripped through him.

He clutched his gut, eyes squinted tightly shut in anguish. "Ow… my stomach…" he curled with a groan.

"Jonny…" Benton touched his cheek, "Look at me, _please_." He let his eyes relax open and floated them toward his dad. "Jonny, what happened?"

"…Happened?" He asked, confused.

Benton measure his eyes, he wasn't being coy. "How have you been hurt?" He clarified.

"I… dunno… my kidney- they worked it over real bad…"

"Where else," he said stolidly.

"I feel dizzy, I need water."

Benton pet his arm, poured a glass of juice, "Then drink this first, it's OJ."

Jonny sat up a bit to drink the juice, he gulped it down greedily. Come to think of it, that was the second thing he could remember eating since coming here. "My head really hurts, an' my fingers…" he cradled his stomach and looked away. "It's not _that_ bad though… they were worse before."

"What else hurts, Jonny." It wasn't a question, it was an order. He understood it but couldn't process it.

Dr. Quest's eyes looked so sad, he didn't understand.

"…My stomach?" He asked, trying to figure out his dad more than his own body. "But it's my _kidney_ … I said that already…"

"…" He measured Jonny's eyes. "You can _tell_ me, Jonny. I _know_."

Jonny rubbed his eye. "Well then clue me in, dad, cuz I have no idea what you're talking about- the blood? I _told_ you me—"

"It's not your kidney." He said affectlessly.

"…I… don't understand? I'm pissing blood cuz my—"

Benton touched his forehead, pet the side of his face. Jonny involuntarily flinched. "…Don't touch me, please…" his voice sounded far away even in his own ears.

"Why does it bother you?" Benton said in a violent calm, his eyes were oceans of depths to drown in.

"I don't remember. Just don't… _please_ , dad."

Benton slid back, that probably _was_ the truth. "What _do_ you remember, then?" He asked, his back into the wall. Jonny sat next to him, similarly braced.

"The castle…"

"What castle?"

Jonny shrugged, "I dunno… I keep… waking up in a castle." Jonny leaned into Benton's shoulder, his head rested on the corner. "…I'm safe in there… the outside can't get in. I… dunno…" he closed his eyes, dozing.

Benton's hand covered his face, he didn't want these bastards to see they'd gotten to him, but how could they _not_ know they had? He cried silently, his poor boy… his poor son. A silent sob racked through his throat, he was careful not to jostle Jonny, "Please, Race… get here _soon_."

-0 Dark JQ-

Jonny awoke in his fortress, he looked on in disdain at the state of ill-repair his robotic defenses were in.

He could still hear those vile boars, they made him feel ill, violently so. And why had the music stopped? Why wasn't there static, for that matter! He pressed his hands to his ears to quiet those foul, squelching noises.

"Guards! Kill them! Kill those incessant beasts!" He commanded his robotic sentry. They shifted indifferently. "…Guards? Is… this mutiny?"

The guards fell, clattering into pieces.

"No— no! I have to fix them…" his hands shot toward the piles of components. "…A… radio?"

He blinked in confusion, why were his armored robots made of broken radio pieces? Body aching, he tried to rebuild the robots, but each time he was about to switch them on, they crumbled back into dissembled radio parts.

"…Am… am I supposed to _build_ a radio? Are you saying _that's_ what I need to do?" He asked the pile.

Static crackled once as if in answer.

"…B… but… I need help with the _pigs_ , not a radio…" He said, visibly upset. He was shivering.

Grabbing his hair, he looked around the fortress.

He's supposed to be safe here, _whole_ here… he reminded himself, his eyes landed on debris from the window sill. It was falling apart! He had to fix it— _had to_ … As he reached the crumbling stone, touching it, they splintered into smaller pebbles, he let go, screaming in horror as they transformed into fingernails.

He slid back into the center of the fortress, "No… no… it's _not_ … I'm safe… I'm _safe_ —"

-0 Dark JQ-

Jonny startled awake, arms poised to his sides defensively. He didn't recognize this room.

Where was he?!

He looked around in sheer panic, his father was there at a desk working.

The papers stopped rustling, his dad made eye contact. "Jonny…?"

The boy shivered, staring at his hands- there were band aids covering his fingertips… he didn't _need_ those, he was _fine_. He started to peel them off when his dad approached.

"—Jonny, don't. Son?"

The distant, fearful look in his eyes made Benton's blood chill. He peeled them off, as he knew! His hands _were_ fine… Jonny started to laugh, darkly, staring at his hands. So that was it, it really _was_ a treason…

As his hysteria carried in bubbles of laughter toward his father, he felt his eyes stinging with tears. It was too _funny_. It wasn't _horror_ at all, it was _pigs_. He broke into a full bawl by time Benton was kneeling before him.

"Jonny? Talk to me, Jonny, what's wrong? Are you in _pain_ …?" He debated touching him to ground him, there was a very real risk of triggering more trauma— no, he decided his voice was his best contact. "Jonny, tell me why you're crying… son, I can't help if I don't know."

"…Pigs…" his voice shook, "…disgusting, wallowing pigs…"

"Pigs?" Benton wasn't sure he understood, that was what it sounded like he'd said.

"Grunting, filthy… filthy, dirty _pig_ …" Jonny grabbed his ears and curled into himself, "hurts…"

In trepidation, Benton steadied his voice into a strong timbre, "Jonny, you know it wasn't a _pig_ , not literally." He dared, "You're remembering, aren't you? About what happened to you?"

"…I broke the radio… need to… need… dad…?" his bloodshot eyes locked onto his father's, "Dad?"

Benton held his arms open, Jonny took the cue and plowed head-first into his dad's chest sobbing. He encircled his arms around the boy, petting his back.

"I have you, I'm here now…"

"Where _ARE_ we?!" Came the hysteric hiccups.

"I wish I knew, son. I wish I knew."

-0 Dark JQ-

"My, how touching."

Benton startled at the sudden noise. He was still cradling Jonny, three men stood at the entryway to the room.

His eyes narrowed dangerously. " _YOU_ …" His cadence seemed to startle Jonny awake, the boy opened his eyes nervously.

"…D-ad?"

Benton pushed Jonny behind him protectively. Naturally, the boy peered around him to see why. His sleep addled face glazed over, mouth parted, he slid weakly against the wall in a fugue state.

"Who knew your dud actually had _some_ skillsets." The man mocked.

Benton clutched and unclutched his fists.

"I'm working on your sick project- keep _away_ from my boy, that was _YOUR_ deal."

"And that was, until he made a radio. Boy, you're _going_ to tell me who you contacted AND when."

"Like hell he's telling you _ANYTHING_." Benton spat, the hackles on his neck rose.

The quiet man aimed the gun.

"Really, Dr. Quest, we've been over this ad nauseum."

"You'll have to _shoot_ me."

The boss laughed. "Oh hardly, we'd just have to overpower you. An unarmed, unfit _father_ backed into a corner. And then _he'll_ —" he pointed at Jonny, "go with _him_ and we'll get our information." He pointed to Ali.

"…Radio?" Jonny said from behind Benton, the boy sounded a thousand miles away. "I have to make a radio." He said blankly.

"Why, my boy, you already _have_. And whom did you reach out to, hm? When?"

Jonny pressed his back into the corner, silent.

"Try not to injure him too badly, it will impact his work." The boss said glibly.

Benton grabbed Jonny and dove for the counter as the gun went off. Jonny's shoulder took the brunt of the landing, he let off a small, pained groan. Dr. Quest hefted him back to his feet as he shielded the boy.

"Really now, Dr. Quest! You're _just_ making things harder on the brat." The boss cracked his knuckles. "I suppose there's a time in every young man's life where they must see their father falter as a man." He punched at Benton's jaw, he dodged the swipe and threw a punch himself, it connected with the cretin's nose, another punch launched by said goon landed in his solar plexis.

He kneed up, hard, into the larger man's groin, grabbed his collar and shoved him forward. As he keenly focused on pummeling the abusive asshole, he lost sight of the others circling around until Jonny let out a pained yelp.

A fist dusted his cheek, splitting it and turning his head to reveal, to his horror, Jonny with a gun pressed to his temple.

All fight left him.

"No! No— _Don't_!"

"Oh, they won't." He smiled victoriously, the smug prick. "Boy, would you rather go talk with your good friend here or have us shoot your dah?"

Jonny's eyes snapped to a focus, pupils pin-pricks. He mutely raised his hand to point to himself.

" _NO_!" Benton took a step, stopped as the hammer was cocked, the gun still at the side of his son's head.

"It… it didn't _work_ …" Jonny mumbled, "I tried… but it didn't…"

"And your aptitudes clearly fall short in acting." The boss growled. "If he moves, shoot him. And Ali, have _fun_."

Benton's eyes went wide.

Jonny crushed down on the quiet man's instep, the sudden shift let Jonny flip him over, keeping hold of the gun, just like Race'd taught him.

He was pinned in the corner, though, holding a large pistol that barely fit in his hands.

"Now, _son_ …" the boss grabbed Benton, "Don't do anything stupid."

"Jonny don't hesitate!" Benton bit, overriding the man's treacherous call, "You're too close to miss!"

As if on order, he squared his shoulders and fired, a bloom of red filled the center of the man on the floor, Jonny on autopilot pulled back the hammer to aim at the man who'd pulled his fingernails off…

He squeezed his eyes shut, no… he _had_ his fingernails, it hadn't happened—

"JONNY!"

He opened his eyes as the man was lunging, he screamed as his arm was pushed off course. He pulled the trigger anyway.

The loud bang felt deafening, he didn't know where the bullet went but he felt the strong hand around his wrist slam it into the wall until it opened, the gun dropped, "N-no…" Jonny stammered.

All pulled him flush to his body. " _Yes_."

He screamed, closing his eyes in sheer terror, he messed up- he messed up _really_ bad…

He felt a gust of air then fell into the wall, limp. Sliding down, he curled into a protective ball and rocked himself waiting for the inevitable.

"Jonny! _RUN_!"

He shook his head, no, no this couldn't be happening, he was _safe_ , he was in his fortress where there was _no pain_.

"JONATHON! SNAP OUT OF IT AND _RUN_!" his father shouted.

There were more swooshes, then hot liquid that cooled quickly, immediately preceded by a loud bang.

He couldn't breathe, he hugged himself tighter.

"Kiddo! Off yer ass!"

Jonny's eyes snapped open and looked up, he saw his father pummeling a man- his face unrecognizable, though he was sure of who it had to be by the ponytail.

Race, meanwhile, had another man with a bloodied arm pinned.

He forced himself up on shaky legs that refused to hold all his weight. He inched along the wall, past Race and took off in an incredibly clumsy sun.

He wiped out in the hallway, then got back up and ran with a pronounced limp.

Desperately trying to remember the layout he'd _seen_ , he tried to find his way back toward the entrance.

He slid to a halt at the sight of armed men, he screamed as he fell into a heap, protecting his vitals.

"We have the Quest boy, we're exfiltrating—" a man in fatigues said over the radio. "Hey! Hey, Jonny, you remember me, don'tcha? I'm Sergeant Cole, _from the Compound_ , c'mon… I got ya—"

Jonny offered no response, when the man touched him, he struggled to grab his gun.

"WOAH! Kid! We're _friendlies_!" He replied while wrestling the boy's hands away from his service pieces.

Sgt. Cole crushed him into a hug, his two small wrists caught in one large hand, in one fast tug, he was in the air, being rushed from the hostile building.

-0 Dark JQ-

Race wrestled the larger of the two remaining men to his stomach, cuffing him into a hog-tie position. He eyed Benton who was doing quite well for himself. Standing, he dusted off, wound back, and socked the man in one solid sucker punch then another to the glass jaw, or what Benton had left of it. He was still grabbing his collar and coiling back.

"Doc! I've got this- get to Jonny!"

He punched him again for good measure. "Race, he's a _pig_ … a vile, child-touching _pig_." He conveyed all the vitriol he could house in his rapidly depleting adrenal-surged body in that one sentence.

"Yeah?" Race said, cracking his knuckles, he punched the half-dead bastard in the groin and flipped him onto the table, jerked his arms back and cuffed him. "Any justice in the world, and you'll drown in your own juices."

He touched his radio. "Cleared?"

"Roger that, both Quests in custody. The abductors?"

"One bag-and-tag, two for Disney."

A minute later, three federal agents entered the small room.

"Shit, you said _Disney_."

"Yeah, they don't need a hospital." He said with conviction.

"Man- if they _don't_ need a hospital it's cuz they need a _bag_ and a _tag_ …"

"Bronson, so help me, they don't need a hospital, they don't _deserve_ a hospital, and if you direct them to one…" The threat hung openly. He sighed, "I'll fill out _that_ paperwork, you dig?"

"…Shit, you Illinois boys don't play."

"No, we _don't_." He pointed to the table, "Don't take out _that_ trash until the boy is off ground."

The unspoken implications sucked the air out of the room.

Bronson butted his rifle into the back of the man on the table. As he twitched, Bronson called out authoritatively, "Hey, stop resisting, asshole!"

Another very pronounced crack sounded at about the fifth lumbar. The goon groaned in anguish.

Race gave him a thankful nod.

-0 Dark JQ-

Benton wrapped a woolen blanket- army green with the Intelligence One insignia- tightly around Jonny, the boy looked catatonic.

He sat inside a tactical van, Benton crouched in front of him to shield his from any perceived or unperceived threats.

"Jonny, are you hurting?" he asked, he knew the shock of shooting two people- killing one outright- was tremendous, but it was also secondary to _his_ injuries, and oh how they'd been racked up.

The boy looked up at the sky, the sun was starting to rise.

He gave one nod, tears began to flow.

Dr. Quest wrapped his arms around the boy, "Tell me what hurts, son…"

"I _shot_ you…" he sobbed harder.

"What?" He looked down at his hip, it wasn't too bad- at least not on an adrenaline rush, "I'm _fine_ , I'm just glad you're safe now…"

Jonny hugged his chest, fists clutching the wool between his fingers. "I feel sick to my stomach…"

"Adrenaline crash?"

His eyebrows furrowed, "…an' I need to pee…"

"Well, then, let's get that settled—there's a bush right…"

"…I can't stand up. I _tried_." He frowned miserably.

"Lean forward, champ."

"No. I'll hurt you." He stated flatly, " _Again._ "

Race patted Dr. Quest's shoulders. "I'll tag him out, kiddo. You—sit down, yer a bit of a mess."

"And you're late." Benton retorted equally cool.

"I'll have you know I beat the GPS predictions by over an hour."

Benton cracked a snide but genuine smile, "We appreciate that."

"Alright kiddo, up and at me…" Race gave the boy a guiding tug.

At the bush, Jonny puked up mouthfuls of clear until bile came with it. Race rubbed a circle on his back. "Get it all out."

He added another mouthful for good measure then wiped his tear-stained face.

Keeping a grip on one of Jonny's arms to keep him upright, Race soothed the boy as he shook out a leak. His eyes darkened as he saw the puddle of red. "How long've you been pissin' red, sport?"

He had to think to answer that, "…When we got here, they hit me real hard in th' back, on th' right side… so about two days."

Race nodded. "Who hit ya like _that_?"

"Th' one ya saw dad wailin' on…" He wiped his eyes, the tears just wouldn't stop. "…he… he did all the worst things…" He couldn't keep his legs solid under him.

Race steered his fall to clean earth.

"Like what?"

Jonny held out his hands.

"Jesus!" He pet Jonny's face, locking eyes, "Were you awake the whole time?"

He shook his head, "…I made myself go away…"

"…Go away?" Race looked dubious, there was a technique to it, but he wasn't sure.

He nodded, "They made dad listen to the screams… I didn't want 'em to use my dad… so I had to stop screamin', so I had to go _away_."

"Where did you go?"

"A castle… I was there a lot, but after I broke the radio… it stopped workin' like it was s'posed ta…"

"Broke the radio?"

Jonny buried his face in his hands. "He hurt me so bad… I pretended it was pigs grunting… my hands haven't stopped shakin'… an'… an'… I d-dropped it cuz I'm so _clumsy_ an' _stupid_!"

Race pulled him into a hug. "Kiddo, if I could be _your_ kind of clumsy and stupid I'd be livin' the _life_. You made a radio outta trash—that worked, that reached me! You knew to keep it active long enough to trace, AND did it in _code_ , that's stupid like a fox, and foxes aren't _stupid_."

"I shot dad…"

"The bullet ricocheted, _you_ shot a wall." He patted Jonny's hair. "And how _did_ you get a gun, huh?"

"Th' goon holdin' it to my head… he was gonna shoot dad, so I flipped 'im then shot 'm for the trouble."

"I'd say that's pretty darn resourceful for a twelve year old, heck, kiddo—that's resourceful for a 20-year vet." Race beamed proudly.

"…Really?"

"Do I lie to you?" The boy shook his head in response. "Darn right. You saved the day, my only complaint was ya didn't _run_ when ya had yer window to."

"…My legs wouldn't _move_ , Race."

He nodded, "I know, you got _spooked_ a bit—"

"…No, I- I mean…" his cheeks reddened, "I mean I _couldn't_ make my legs… not with _strength_ …"

Race looked at him worried. "For how long?"

The blush burnt scarlet to his ears in shame, "You know exactly for how long."

"You know you need to go into the ER, right?"

Jonny nodded. "Race, you won't leave me an' dad, will ya?"

"No chance in hell."

The boy was shivering, "C-can I sleep for a little?"

"Yeah, you earned a rest." Race said, "When you wake up, it'll be in a better place than _this rot_."

"Good…" he curled into Race's side, out cold.

-0 Dark JQ-

The next day, Jonny awoke to the sunrise in his bed in Palm Key to the sounds of shuffling. Eyes cracking open, he saw a smorgasbord of 'breakfast in bed' of ice cream, fruit, chocolate milk- all of his favorites just laid out.

He blinked sleepily, wondering what kind of dream this was, he still had his hospital admittance bracelet on and band aids over his elbows and back of his hand.

"Good morning, kiddo."

Groggily, Jonny croaked, "Morning…?" He focused his eyes on the sun rising, "What day…"

Race looked out the door, side stepping a bit so the boy could see past him.

"Where's dad?" He blinked, "'m I on pain killers 'r somethin'?"

"Enough to supply a small army."

"Oh…" Jonny saw motion, he tried to sidle up the bed, his dad was using a cane to shuffle about, he felt gutted, "…Dad?"

Benton put a giant slice of cake with a candle sparkler going on in front of the squinting boy. He was confused.

"…What's going on…?"

Benton ruffled his hair, "While this isn't exactly how I thought we'd spend your birthday—"

Jonny's eyes widened in realization, it had snuck up on him with everything that had happened.

"—And we can do a do-over when you're feeling up to it, but I'm just so… so glad you're _alive_ … that—"

"…My birthday… I'm 13 now…"

Benton smiled, "Technically speaking, yes."

Jonny forced himself to sit up in the bed. He hadn't even realized Hadji and Jessie weren't going to be back from Space Camp by his birthday. He frowned at all the accoutrements. "I can't eat all of this… I mean, normally, maybe, but this is a _lot_ … especially without Hadj and Jess…"

"They're flying back in this afternoon." Race informed him politely.

"But… camp was supposed to go until _tomorrow_." He reiterated, he'd known that a few weeks ago.

"Well, they had wanted to _surprise_ you, but I think you could use a few less surprises today."

He looked at the expectant adults, the candle still going. He knew this was them trying to help him normalize, but man oh man did they miss the mark. No, he needed to do this charade for their sake as much as his own. "So am I supposed to wait till they get back to blow out this candle, or is this round one?"

Benton smiled at his son's pluck. "Make a wish."

He took a deep breath, making to blow out the candle and instead flipped it into the ice cream with a lopsided smile. He _wished_ the last few days hadn't happened, but that wasn't going to happen. They had to know he'd think that, but he really wished they'd be alright.

He took a bite of cake, his stomach roiled. It was garbage! The cake tasted so good but there wasn't a shot in the dark that his stomach would let him _enjoy_ it. To hell with it, even if he made himself sick, he was going to enjoy a few more bites of cake anyway. He thought that, as his fork waivered over the cake, god he really wanted to just eat… but his _stomach_.

"…I really can't eat all this." He said in defeat. "The cake is _really_ , _really_ good though!" He took another bite in defiance to his stomach's whims. He let his eyes travel to the corner of the room, his voice faltered as he asked. "Dad… is your leg…?"

"This is nothing, a minor setback at most." He replied without hesitation. "I am _so_ proud of you, and this could have ended in so many _worse_ ways… I only wish you hadn't been _hurt_ … I'd have traded the whole leg for _that_."

Jonny flinched. Race elbowed Benton gently to suggest changing topics. The blond's eyes watered.

"Can I ask you for something?" He asked in a small, hesitant voice.

" _Anything_ ," Benton caveated, "That you can _legally_ have at thirteen."

Jonny let out a throaty laugh, "Can I have a hug?" His tears were foiled by his happy smile, "I mean, now that the Ferrari's off the table."

Race snorted, which only made the three laugh harder.

"Of course you can." He curled the teen into him, Jonny extended a hand to Race, who joined in the group hug. After a long hug, Jonny pulled back and leaned back into the bed.

He curled to his side as he fell back asleep.

The adults looked at him in varying levels of concern. Race lifted the tray to carry it back to the kitchen with Benton coming up behind him.

"We raised one amazing young man." Benton said stoically.

"Ah heck, Benton, sure we did, but he's good stock. He'd have been a stand-up kid if he was dropped in the woods and raised by rabid honey badgers."

Benton smiled, "Quite possibly."

"And at least he ate _something_. Poor kid's gotta be in a world of hurt still." Race added, still eying the full tray, that boy usually only had two modes- hungry and _still hungry_.

The affirming nod looked at the full tray. "What those bastards did… it's unforgivable."

"No argument from me on that point, doc. But ya gotta lay off about that kind of trade with yer leg. He feels guilty about it. I know you don't, but he sure as hell isn't there yet. It'll only make him feel worse, you're both sufferin' some survivors guilt pretty awful."

Benton shook his head slowly, "You're right, of course. But I'm going to have to talk to him about that stunt— flipping a man with a gun at _his_ head, of all the…"

"Yeah? What're you naming that lecture series?"

He crossed his arms in consideration. "No Heroics."

Race let out a bellowing laugh, "Well good luck on _that_." They both chortled as they ate the rest of the slice of cake, really, it was quite good.

Benton gave his own lopsided grin, "Oh, I know, it'll be an uphill battle, on ice."

-END-

A/N: Thanks for reading, fellow Questers. I have several stories that I need to record from different media, and hope to get those shared soon so I hope you keep checking back. They'll all be in the same timeline, some with my OCs, some without, so I hope you'll keep reading!


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